Last August, reporter Paul Sperry published at the New York Post a report falsely claiming that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin once edited a “radical Muslim publication that opposed women’s rights and blamed the US for 9/11.” In fact, the “radical Muslim publication” is a standard academic journal, and Abedin didn’t do much actual work for it. (Nevertheless, the Media Research Center demanded coverage of the fake story.)
WorldNetDaily — Sperry’s former employer — apparently like the fake news they saw, and decided they wanted more.
In an April 26 WND article, Sperry played guilt-by-association by claiming that “the U.S. Justice Department has been actively prosecuting two other Abedin family members – for conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud.” Sperry provides no evidence of a direct link between Abedin and the relatives.
On May 2, Sperry tried to push the conspiracy further by getting the right-wing ambulance-chasers at Judicial Watch involved — presumably on Sperry’s request. Again, he offers no evidence of any direct connection between Abedin and the alleged wrongdoing of her extended family members.
The beautiful thing is that we don’t need to fact-check this. We can just use Sperry’s abysmal track record on reporting on Abedin — as well as the fact that apparently even the New York Post wouldn’t touch this after getting burned by Sperry before and had to descend down the credibility spiral before finding a willing outlet in WND — to presume he’s not telling the full truth and that his reporting can’t be trusted.
If WND is so adamant about denouncing fake news, why does it keep publishing people who have a track record generating fake news?